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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped wide open, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the canvas in shock and awe after a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the force of the blow registered to his rattled senses.

"Those watching didn't spend money to see this rubbish," snapped the referee, encapsulating the dismal spectacle much more effectively than any observer else could.

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer retreat or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of boxing became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an completely stunned moment.

So this is how it is like, and appears, to be hit hard by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the consequences of a proper punch meant Paul would not be able to get up and taunt his opponent before the referee called the charade to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a numbing throb radiated through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how difficult, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a respectable standard of competition.

An Unimpressive Commanding Victory for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing during the bedlam. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that hinted at a clinical and deadly finish when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the contest. Instead of exuding intimidation or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed hesitant and awkward for nearly five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, shaped the result. Without the gas to escape any longer, and resorting to falling to the deck as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered helpless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the vicious finish, but, up to that point, he had looked like a mournful shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the best performance," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the straight right eventually reached its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he offered an explanation for his own labored performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his previous loss. "We shook off the rust, and I am eager to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a cheerful Joshua tried out a poor imitation of Tyson Fury as he called for a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the peak.

In contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted ruler of the division, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising force. The young British heavyweight would probably have needed less than half the number of rounds that Joshua required to knock Paul into a suitably astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Response

But the fans gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality celebrity contests. Paul seemed genuinely proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he shared an radiograph, with the two fractures marked in crimson.

That jokey nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a equally diminished force, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate another opponent with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the medical facility, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was one more bleak summary of the evening as Paul mangled harsh reality with gory bullshit and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little beating from one of the greatest to ever do it. I adore this shit and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."